RISE UP!

Today is Inauguration Day and despite the situation we find ourselves in, I am actually hopeful.

Don’t get me wrong. I was just as devastated as the majority of the country on Election Day; for weeks I was depressed. I struggled with making the decision to go hide in a hole for the next four years or face head on what is sure to be constant astonishment and outrage. I shied away from social media and the news. Tried to focus more locally and I began to notice a change in myself. I began to work harder to be the change I want to see in the world. I refocused on my recycling efforts at home. I started getting more involved in local issues and ticked up on my volunteering commitments. I put my money where my mouth is and donated to organizations that are going to really need our help such as the ACLU and the American Humanist Association.

After doing that I realized that many people around me were doing the same. It finally dawned on me that progressives like me had become mobilized; energized by the need to DO something. I, like many progressives, had become complacent under the Obama administration because we had a government that was working for us, creating change for the better but now that task is left up to us. All the issues that are important to progressives such as global climate change, women’s reproductive rights, universal health care, income equality, helping refugees, assuring Human Rights for all, logic, reason, and the use of Science to make informed decisions for the betterment of humanity will likely be ignored by this new administration.

Looking for the positive in each situation and finding ways to bounce back from adversity are Humanist Values and these months leading up to this day that we say goodbye to the Obama administration I have seen progressives RISE UP and so have many of the organizations that will need our help over the next four years. Planned Parenthood has seen an uptick of contributions and volunteers, which used to be about 8 new volunteers a week but jumped upwards of 65 a week after the election. The ACLU is fired up and ready to hold the Trump administration accountable for any civil rights violations. The interest generated by the Woman’s March on Washington tomorrow is astronomical as local marches are slated to occur at the same time all around the country empowering millions of people to stand up for the rights of others. It makes me wonder , if we would have been this energized during the Obama administration imagine how much more he may have accomplished and we might have been able to prevent the predicament we are in now.

We must RISE UP to the challenges we will undoubtedly face moving forward and despite the despicable bigotry and ignorance we will be confronted with I know I will be at peace because we are on the side of justice and as long as we do not go back to being complacent but diligently remain steadfast with our voices and our actions we will prevail.